1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-function transaction processing system which may be disposed at a commercial location in order to complete a variety of commercial transactions, including credit/debit card purchases, while also facilitating one or more alternate, commercially advantageous functions including the issuance of authorization codes for purposes related to pre-paid telephony service, Internet purchases, lottery purchases, and the like. Furthermore, the multi-function transaction processing system provides an effective source for the dissemination of a variety of promotional materials in connection with the transaction being completed utilizing the system.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the ever increasing popularity of credit or debit card payments at commercial establishments, it is becoming increasingly commonplace to find small credit card transaction terminals at commercial establishments such as grocery stores, gas stations, convenience stores, and the like. Typically, these conventional credit/debit card transaction terminals are linked to an affiliated service so as to provide for the approval of a particular transaction, thereby facilitating payment to the merchant. Such traditional transaction terminals are, however, limited to providing authorization for a particular purchase in lieu of a cash payment for products or services that are normally offered by the merchant. As a result, while they are a convenience for the operators of commercial establishments, they do not provide any added commercial advantage to the commercial establishment. Indeed, the convenience factor is generally the only factor to offset the service fees that must typically be paid by the commercial establishments to the authorizing entity. As a result, it would be beneficial to provide an enhanced transaction terminal as part of a transaction system, which in addition to facilitating traditional credit debit card purchases, will also provide an added source of economic benefit for the commercial establishments employing such a system, directly as a result of its use.
An example of an added source of revenue that has become increasingly popular for merchants includes the calling card industry, wherein a particular commercial advantage is being attained from the sale of pre-paid calling cards. Specifically, such pre-paid calling cards are typically supplied in bulk to a retail establishment where they may be sold at specific monetary denominations. In essence, each pre-paid, pre-printed calling card provides a purchasing consumer with the appropriate access to a defined amount of telephony connection time. As a result, the consumer, often at a reduced rate, is able to initiate any desired telephony communication from any telephone, without incurring toll or other service charges in connection with that telephone.
Despite advances in the calling card industry, it is often commercially limiting to provide the physical cards to the commercial or retail establishments for appropriate sale to the consumers. For example, if sales are slow at a particular location, an inventory of cards will remain unused and unsold. The fact that a finite amount of air time is purchased by the operators of the card requires that the time remain un-used in case a purchase does indeed occur with regard to a pre-printed account. Conversely, an establishment which makes a large volume of sales may run out of cards and future potential sales will be lost as no cards are available. Yet another inconvenience associated with traditional pre-printed calling card relates to the need for inventory space to store large volumes of physical cards, naturally resulting in added expense, and the fact that the cards, once printed, cannot be changed if retail identity, rates, etc., change, and provide an actual commodity susceptible to theft or other misappropriation.
To this end, others in the art have sought to develop individual card printing devices. Specifically, such devices are generally standard printing devices that print a particular calling card on demand, thereby minimizing the space and inventory requirements of the commercial establishments and permitting at least a degree of variability, such as in connection with card denominations. Unfortunately, however, such systems are still severely limited, as each card printing terminal is provided with a finite number of access codes to be printed on a finite number of calling cards. Typically, a quantity of the access codes are downloaded into the individual terminal at a predetermined period of time, in much the same manner that traditional cards are stocked at the establishment. As a result, they do not alleviate the problems associated with outstanding, unsold access codes/pin numbers, or the loss of sales after depletion of an initially defined volume of cards. Furthermore, such terminals are merely printers which print a number of a cards, and they do not provide any further business enhancing qualities or functions which provide a commercial advantage to the establishment utilizing the terminal, beyond merely the sale of a calling card.
Accordingly, there is still a need in the art for a calling card system which does not have to be limited in terms of quantities sold, allows for complete card versatility, and ensures that proper utilization of all resources is maintained without waste or storage problems. Additionally, such a transaction system should provide enhanced functionality so as to provide a variety of commercially advantageous services/products for a particular establishment, providing consumer incentive for the calling card purchases and to provide a mechanism via which the costs associated with the calling card to the retail or distributor can be offset through the association of alternative commercial endeavors, such as promotions and other services.
The present invention also recognizes that given the advances of global computerized network communications and commerce, increased purchase avenues are continuously being made available to consumers. Unfortunately, however, many traditional consumers still have security concerns associated with consummating such electronic transactions, especially if they will be required to transmit credit/debit card information to the merchant. Moreover, in some circumstances, privacy concerns also restrict a consumer""s desire to make certain purchases by traditional means. As a result, it would be beneficial to provide a transaction system which is capable of offering prepaid services which can not only be utilized for such traditional services as telephony communication, but which also provides a means through which a consumer can establish a prepaid purchase, utilizing that pre-payment for any of a variety of products or services.
The present invention is directed to a multi-function transaction processing system. The transaction processing system includes a transaction terminal that may be disposed at any establishment, including a commercial or retail type establishment. In particular, the transaction terminal includes a data entry facility and a transaction processor associated therewith. Moreover, the transaction processor, which facilitates a variety of the operational functions of the transaction terminal, is communicatively associated with a control processor.
The data entry facility associated with the transaction terminal includes a payment authority input which accepts a payment authority, such as a credit card transaction or acknowledgment of cash payment. In this regard, the control processor is structured to define a user account, and to issue an authorization code associated with the user account at least in response to a payment authority received at the transaction terminal.
The transaction processing system of the present invention may also include a printer assembly. The printer assembly is communicatively associated with the transaction terminal and is structured to at least generate a card assembly. In the illustrated embodiment, the card assembly many be generally elongate, including one or more portions. For example, a first portion of the card assembly many include at least the authorization code thereon, while a second portion of the card assembly many include promotional materials thereon. As such, when a consumer completes an appropriate transaction where an authorization code is required for a particular future transaction, the consumer will be provided with the card assembly to facilitate their maintenance and/or conveyance of the authorization code. Conversely, the second portion may include promotional materials which can be distributed to the consumer and provides an incentive for consumer purchase.
Additionally, the user account defined by the control processor includes a defined value. The defined value is at least partially determined by the payment authority that has been provided at the transaction terminal utilizing the data entry facility. As a result, the authorization code facilitates the subsequent transaction in accordance with that defined value, while the control processor provides necessary confirmations or validations.
These and other features of the present invention will become more clear when the drawings as well as the detailed description are taken into consideration.